Do you ever dream in that language? For instance, I moved to Germany 13 years ago from the US, and I sometimes dream in German. I was just wondering if other people also dream in a foreign language.
2007-07-07 05:26:21 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Yes, I even had a dream where my mother and I were telling a joke to my father, my mother's part was in English, I gave the punchline in Ukrainian.
Had to have been there, I guess.
2007-07-07 05:43:01 · answer #1 · answered by sudonym x 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely. It's funny, isn't it? I think it has to do with what language you use most in your daily life. When I lived in Germany, I used to think and dream in German. Now that I live in the States, it's English mostly.
2007-07-08 09:56:17 · answer #2 · answered by vodenjak2001 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the first time that happened I smiled when I woke up ... I knew I was finally fluent. I've found that pretty true over the years.
I first experienced it in Brazil ... after about five months of speaking not a word of English I had my first dream in Portuguese. Two years later I had my first dream in Spanish while I was living in Argentina. Both times I would categorize having my dreams in the native language with becoming fully fluent.
I've also had it happen in France after living in Paris for 4 months, in Denmark after 10 months (its a hard language to learn), and in Sweden after 5 months.
For anyone who speaks more than one language you understand that when you switch between languages you don't think "word for word" what you're saying ... you just know how to say it, and say it. I've found almost all monolinguals don't understand this concept -- they think you just translate really fast in your head from one language to another :p I think that when you dream in the native language of where you are that signifies your brain naturally thinks in the language effectively.
2007-07-07 12:56:28 · answer #3 · answered by blursd2 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I have.
In order to really master any language (including your first) you have to think in that language.
Thinking in a language will precede dreaming in it, obviously.
2007-07-07 12:34:48 · answer #4 · answered by open4one 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Although I'm Lithuanian,sometimes I think in english! But I haven't dreamed in english.
2007-07-07 13:33:30 · answer #5 · answered by Xero 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes...i just had a dream last night n it was in english...i also had a dream in english while i was still in my country..i had a dream that i wrote a poem, in english...i can't even write a poem in my language,but i can wrote a poem in english in my dream..sometimes i found it weird n funny too..^_^
2007-07-07 22:39:07 · answer #6 · answered by moody_girl 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure.
2007-07-07 15:18:07 · answer #7 · answered by Alej 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋